ActiveX on PPRuNe

[PaperTiger]

Not to worry anyone unduly, but there are some ads here which include ActiveX controls. I have my browser set to prompt when one of these appears (to which I of course answer NO) so I can't say which one it is.

I thought these were banned like pop-ups and sounds ?

[Background Noise]

Ditto, I get this on almost every page - anything to worry about?

"Your current security settings prohibit running ActiveX controls on this page. As a result, the page may not display correctly."

[Icarus]

An Active-X control is simply a 'custom control' i.e. designed/compiled by a third party rather than a 'common control' supplied for use within whatever programming language you choose to use.
You will (most probably) find (several of) them in a lot of applications you use every day and are unaware of.
They are created by programmers to ease component re-use as they may develop a number of applications that require or can make use of that particular control.
The control can be 'signed' and thus you can be assured of it's integrity.

Bit techy bit if you want to understand moreread this (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/workshop/components/activex/intro.asp)

[bluskis]

The avoidance of viruses is of prime importance to most of us, especially as they develop, by definition, ahead of any antivirus program we may use.

Could someone with the full understanding of the techniques that virus writers can use, say definitively whether or not accepting Active X components as a routine exposes one to infection?

[PaperTiger]

First the bad news...ActiveX provides developers a way to download small executable objects that can be invoked directly on the user’s machine. ActiveX controls (OCXs) also allow rapid development of applications based on "reusable parts." Unlike Java, there is no inherent security model for ActiveX. OCXs are fully executable pieces of Windows code that have no restrictions placed on them once they reach the client machine, regardless of how they got there. This creates a potentially enormous hole for viruses to travel through as Web pages can cause the download and execution of an OCX with no interaction by the user.
Now the good news (sort of)...To date, no known Java or ActiveX viruses or Trojan horses exist in the wild.
(Preceding from Dr. Solomon).
While it is extremely unlikely that a PPRuNe advertiser would introduce a virus or trojan this way, having ActiveX in an ad is (IMO) an unnecessary frill, like those bluddy sound effects. Which is why I asked if they had not been banned. Like I said, I'm not going to let them run but I can do without the extra "no" clicks.